Pro-Pipeliners pipe up

Like tossing peanuts from a peanut gallery, the Kentucky Oil and Gas Association took aim at Franklin Circuit Court Judge Phillip Shepherd after the judge delivered a blow to the proposed natural gas liquids Bluegrass Pipeline.

The association sent out a press release claiming bias, saying Shepherd "had revealed his leanings by using the language of the Bluegrass Pipeline's opponents."

Well, the judge did obviously conclude Kentuckians United to Restrain Eminent Domain, and its attorney Tom FitzGerald, had made the better legal argument. Shepherd ruled that a private corporation would need an "undeniably clear mandate from the legislature" before being able to seize citizens' property rights; that the pipeline does not serve the energy needs of Kentuckians; and would not be regulated by the Public Service Commission.

The ruling should not have been a big surprise. Len Peters, secretary of the energy friendly Energy and Environment Cabinet told Kentucky lawmakers pretty much the same thing last year.